Thursday, March 3, 2016

Security In Iraq, Feb 22-29, 2016

There was a large spike in violence in Iraq at the end of
February 2016. The Islamic State launched several high profile terrorist
attacks in Baghdad and Diyala, and began large scale attacks upon the security
forces in Anbar once again. There were also a large number of executions in
Kirkuk. On the government’s side, it was still focused upon clearing the
suburbs of Ramadi, while starting new operations in the western section of
Anbar.

There were 155 reported incidents in Iraq the last week of
February. That was the most since 164 counted from September 8-14, 2015, but
there was also one extra day in February due to the leap year. Baghdad was the
most violent province with 70 incidents, followed by 27 in Anbar, 20 in Kirkuk,
12 in Salahaddin, 9 in Diyala, 7 in Babil, and 1 each in Irbil and Karbala.

The press had 384 deaths and 690 wounded during the week. 8 Sawha,
17 Hashd al-Shaabi, 47 members of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), and 312
civilians lost their lives, and 36 ISF, 47 Hashd, 112 Peshmerga and civilians,
and 495 civilians wounded. The 112 Peshmerga and
civilians figure came from an alleged chemical rocket attack by IS in
Ninewa. The media did not give a breakdown, only saying more Kurdish fighters
were wounded than civilians.

Baghdad was the deadliest governorate with 190 fatalities.
Another 65 died in Kirkuk, 60 in Anbar, 43 in Diyala, 11 in Ninewa, 9 in Babil,
and 6 in Salahaddin. 423 people were wounded in Baghdad, 115 in Ninewa, 58 in
Diyala, 32 in Babil, 30 in Anbar, 24 in Salahaddin, and 8 in Kirkuk.

The Iraqi government was still focused upon Anbar. Its
forces cleared out Albu Daaj
and conducted a sweep in Albu
Bali in the Ramadi suburbs. They also started clearing the Amiriya
Fallujah area starting with Albu
Hatim in response to attacks by the Islamic State. They also cleared Kubaisa for the second time
since September as the forces continued to fight over the Garma
district. There was also an on going operation in Niamiya south of Fallujah,
which has been disputed for months.

The Islamic State also returned to the offensive in Anbar after
a week’s respite. The media reported one suicide car bomb on a checkpoint in Subhait
that killed five soldiers and wounded 4 Hashd and 6 soldiers. The Iraqi forces
also claimed to have destroyed 8 suicide car bombs, 20 car bombs, and 35
suicide bombers. As usual, some of that was exaggeration. For example, IS
admitted to launching three suicide car bombs outside Ramadi at 18 Kilo, which
the Iraqi forces then turned into 6 destroyed. Likewise IS said it launched six
car bombs on Subhait, which was initially reported in the press, but by the end
of the day that had gone up to 10 suicide bombers killed and 10 car bombs
destroyed. There were also attacks on Albu Daaj, Albu Risha, Amiriya Fallujah,
Baghdadi, Habaniya, Haqlaniya, Hamidiya, Wafa, and Zankura. There were also reports of clashes
between the insurgents and tribes in Hit on two separate days. Similar stories
have emerged before. IS has been carrying out a large number of attacks in
Anbar after it lost Ramadi. None of these operations have been successful
however.

In Babil there were seven incidents, all IEDs. IS appeared
to be focusing upon terrorist attacks there as five of those attacks were upon
markets leading to 8 dead and 28 wounded.

There were 70 reported incidents in Baghdad, the most since
81 from May 1-7. As usual the south had the most violence with 24 attacks that
included 3 sticky bombs, 5 shootings, and 17 IEDs. IS was also able to get into
the center of the city with 1 sticky bomb and 3 IEDs. The militants also
carried out a high
profile attack upon the 24th Brigade headquarters in the Abu
Ghraib district. Six IS detachments launched the attack starting with five
suicide car bombs at 5 am. Four of the vehicles were destroyed, but the fifth
broke through the base’s defenses. Two more IS units then moved into the gap
supported by two trucks with heavy cannons, and were also able to seize the Abu
Ghraib Customs Department building and a silo. The Iraqi Security Forces were
eventually able to expel them. IS has lost the ability to seize territory, and
is now resorting to these types of complex operations like it did pre-Mosul in
2014. Criminality and vigilantism continued in Baghdad as well with five
robberies and 19 bodies being dumped on the streets.

Diyala was the site of another deadly IS terrorist attack.
On February 29
IS hit a funeral in Muqtadiya that killed 38 and wounded 58. Last
month, the militants set off a car bomb and an IED at a café in the same
city that left over 100 casualties and led to several days of retaliatory attacks
by the Hashd against Sunnis. Both attacks were aimed at killing elements of the
Hashd and stoking sectarian tensions with Shiites.

Kirkuk used to be relatively quite, but in the last few
weeks has seen a surge in violence mostly in the Hawija district. IS executed
another 59 people there and blew up 20 homes apparently to intimidate the
population there and maintain its control. There have been reports of people
trying to flee the area, which provoked the Islamists to begin these mass
killings. IS also attacked a Hashd unit in Bashir.

There was the usual mix of killings and attacks upon the Peshmerga
in Ninewa. 7 people were reportedly executed in the province including a judge
and two imams. The Kurdish press also had two chemical rocket attacks upon
Sinjar that wounded 112 Peshmerga and civilians.

Security in Salahaddin remained relatively stable. There
were IEDs and mortar attacks in Taji and Tarmiya in the south. Fighting
continued in the Makhoul and Hamrin Mountains and Ajeel in the north, in the
areas to the west of Samarra in the center, and a car bomb was destroyed in
Siniya in the Baiji area. Violence has been steadily going down in the
governorate since 2014. There was a temporary spike after Ramadi fell as IS
carried out counter attacks there, but they have gone back down since then.

There were 37 reported car bombs launched at the end of
February. Only two were successful, one in Anbar and one in Baghdad. Most car
bombs get destroyed before reaching their targets, usually by anti-tank
missiles, resulting in very few hitting their target. At the same time, the
Iraqi forces inflate the number they destroy in their press releases so the
total is impossible to tell.

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About Me

Musings On Iraq was started in 2008 to explain the politics, economics, security, culture and history of Iraq via original articles and interviews. If you wish to contact me personally my email is: motown67@aol.com